The Silver Flame (Pirate AU of Elemental)
by Fonix Girl
Summary: "She. The captain of this ship was a she. [Elias] scrolled through his head of known pirate captains that were female. He could think of about three that were well-known...worst of them all [was]—Pirate Princess Selene Celeste Fonix, commonly referred to as 'The Silver Flame.' The rumors that flew about her were the craziest of all."
1. Introduction

Introduction:

This is being posted as the two-year anniversary special! I want to thank you guys for being with the Spiral this long. Two years seems like both a forever yet only a moment, honestly.

I just kind of wanted to do something with Pirates. No reason other than the random idea that popped into my head during passing that didn't dissipate when I spent a half hour doing a practice test in math. So, here's an AU involving several of the Elemental characters (Note: ages will be very skewed for several of the characters for the story's purpose). It ended up being a heck of a lot longer than I originally planned (I got sidetracked), so I hope you don't mind. :)

You've got: Pirate!Selene, Pirate!Merlin, Pirate!Luca (who purposely does his best to sound and look like the stereotypical pirate because he thinks it's fun), Pirate!Yukiya, Pirate!Philyra, Navy-Admiral!Klaus, Noble!Elias, Healer!Katalina, among others. There'll also be several mentioned/minor characters, such as a Fem!Pirate!Joel, Trader!Azusa (even though he's not a part of the Elemental Spiral), Navy-Fleet-Admiral!Walter Goldstein (one rank higher than a normal Admiral) and such.

And please excuse any terminology and such I used wrong. I did my best. And, as an added thing, I've taken some characters from a completely different fandom in no way related to Wizardess Heart or the Elemental Spiral. See if you can guess where they're from. ;)

And I'll dedicate this to the guest reviewer seraphim, who commented on the last posting of Cursed and really wanted to see Philyra and Yukiya.

* * *

Notice: This used to be in the Elemental Specials, but I decided to replace it and break it up into parts and post it separately. Also, due to reviewer _name1233_ , I've decided that I might just add some more to this, but forgive me if it takes a little while things in my life are picking up pace!


	2. Part 1, Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: Pulled From the Ocean**

 **"** **Captain, you may want to come to the deck." Selene Celeste Fonix and her Sailing Master, a quiet man named Yukiya, looked up at the Quartermaster, Serge, a normally hyper pink-haired man who looked unusually solemn.**

 **"** **Is there an approaching Navy ship?" she asked.** ** _It's too early for my wanting to deal with them._** **She thought.** ** _I don't know how well we'd fair at the moment._**

 **Serge shook his head, "No. It looks more like shipwreck flotsam."**

 **She sighed, "I'm coming." She set down the plotting tool and pushed her chair back, standing up. She headed up to the deck, followed by Yukiya, Serge, and Yukiya's wolf familiar.**

 **Peering over the edge, she saw Luca, her first mate, down in one of the two lifeboats, searching through the wreckage. A ship must have been wrecked in the storm the pervious night. She called over to him, "Anything worth anything? Any life?"**

 **"** **A few odd objects. No life as of yet." Serge said.**

 **The ship's Gunner, Merlin, who had come up as well, held out his spyglass to his captain. She accepted it and and searched the surrounding waters. Things seemed to be mostly on the starboard side. She spotted something, "Luca!" She shouted some coordinates.**

 **"** **Aye, Cap'n!" He called back, rowing the boat a little further out. Selene watched as Luca spotted the thing she had directed him to and scramble to grab it out of the water, and watched as he pulled a person out of the water and into the boat. Luca checked the vital signs of the body and pumped a fist in the air three times, the crew's sign for life. Selene exhaled. Survivor.**

 **Luca rowed the boat back towards the ship. Yukiya and Serge lowered a smaller net, and Luca heaved the body into it and shouted up for them to pull. Yukiya and Serge slowly backed up. Merlin and Selene lifted the boy onto the deck, untangling him from the net. Luca rowed back out to continue searching the wreckage.**

 **Selene sent Merlin to go get their healer, a young girl named Katalina, who, despite being only eleven, had a strong affinity for healing and a desire to learn (whenever the raided a Navy ship or base, they made sure that healing supplies and books on the subject, if they could be found, were among their spoils).**

 **Looking carefully at the boy, Selene was pretty sure she knew who he was, even if she had never met him. If he was who she thought he was, then she knew his older brother better than she'd like to. If the survivor had violet eyes to go with his golden hair, there'd be no doubt as to who he was.**

 **Katalina came rushing up to the deck, immediately going to the boy and quickly inspecting him, "Can someone carry him to the cot in my room?" Katalina's room doubled as her workspace. Yukiya nodded and picked the boy up. He left, followed by his wolf and Katalina.**

 **"** **Could he be…?" Merlin began.**

 **"** **I think so." Selene said.**

 **"** **What are we going to do?"**

 **"** **I'll figure it out." She waved her hand dismissively. "Now, if you'll excuse me, Yukiya and I still need to figure out the course. I'm afraid we may have to stop a little earlier than we originally planned. The ship took some damage in last night's storm."**

 **Elias ached. Everywhere. His head, his body, everything just** ** _ached_** **. His eyes fluttered open, but the room was too dim to see much, lit by a single candle next to the hard cot he lay in. He heard something and slowly glanced over to see a girl, about his age, come up to him, brushing his hair from his forehead. She was beautiful, glowing slightly in the candlelight. He tried to speak, but all that came out was a drap rasping sound.**

 **"** **Shh." She hushed, pressing something to his lips, "Drink."**

 **He parted his lips and swallowed the warm water that came into his mouth. Under normal circumstances, he would've gagged at the warm, stale-tasting water, but at the moment it tasted as good as fresh water from a mountain stream. But there was an odd taste that didn't seem to be the water.**

 **"** **What…?"**

 **"** **Hush. You're dehydrated and feverish. All questions can be saved for when you're better." the girl said gently. "Now sleep." She stroked his hair until he once again feel asleep.**

 **"** **Now, if we take this course, we can catch the Weway current and be in Hinomoto by noon tomorrow." Selene said, "Sound about right?"**

 **Yukiya nodded, "I think that'd be the best course. Katalina says she needs to restock as well. We also lost a water barrel that fell and broke open during the storm, among other things."**

 **Selene nodded slowly, "We'll have to raid a Navy ship again soon. We're low on coins, too, according to Serge. Not enough to completely restock everything we need. It's been too long since we've raided, anyhow."**

 **"** **I'll go change our course. I'll take the night shift if someone takes the early morning."**

 **"** **I'll do it. I'll be awake anyway." Selene waved him off as she tided up her large desk. She had always been a neat person, and living on a ship only increased that. If things weren't put away in drawers that latched shut, they tended to get scattered everywhere about the room when the waves get rough. "Also, if you see Philyra, send her in, it's about time for her lessons. Katalina, too."**

 **Yukiya nodded and left, his wolf following at a lazy pace.**

 **The next time Elias woke was when the room jolted ever-so-slightly, and the rocking motion that had kept him asleep had faded to a more gentle sway. He sat up, rubbing his eyes and trying to remember what happened. He remembered leaving school and getting on the boat to go home. He'd been on it for several days before a storm struck. The last thing he remembered before waking up and the girl giving him water was being washed overboard as the ship started to fall to pieces.**

 **But where was he now?**

 **Slowly, slowly, he pulled his still-tender body off the cot and made his way toward the crack of light. It was a curtain covering a round window—a porthole—and he pulled it away, squinting at the sudden burst of light. It was past midday,and he could tell that much, and he could see that this ship was located at a port of sorts.**

 **Which means there might be a navy crew—if not a base—that'd be able to take him home! The moment he mentioned his last name, he'd be on a speedy ship back home!**

 **He went to the door as fast as he could and tried to open it, only to find it locked. Why would it be locked? Unless he'd been picked up by...pirates. He was a recognizable person—well, his brother and father were, but he looked just like them—and if pirates had found him, it could turn out badly. Use him as ransom against his family, or just kill him to spite his father and brother. Oh, Klaus would never let himself get in such a situation like that!**

 **He scrambled back as he heard footsteps approaching the door, frantically searching for a weapon of sorts. The closest he could quickly find were sewing needles, which wouldn't do much. A key turned in the lock and the door opened. It was pushed open by a green-haired man with an earring and a sword strapped to his waist. Definitely a pirate. Behind him came in a small, short girl, a couple years older than him, with a tray of food that immediately set his stomach to rumbling the moment he smelled it. When was the last time he ate?**

 **The girl eyed him warily with one grey eye—the other hidden by long black hair—as she set the tray down on the small by the door. She left, but the green-haired man stayed, shutting the door behind him and leaning on it.**

 **"** **Hurry up and eat. The Cap'n will be back soon and she'll be a-wantin' to meet ya." The man drawled.**

 **Elias eyed the man, and then the food. What if they were trying to drug or poison him?**

 **The man sighed, and picked up a few bits of food with one hand, and dropped it in his mouth, chewing and swallowing. "Well, Prince Elias, I guess you can see it's not poisoned. Cap'n doesn't like poison, anyhow. Says it's cheatin'. I'm Luca, by the way." So they did know who he was.**

 **Elias inched forward, only to snatch the tray and back up to the other side of the room. "Don't call me that." He snapped, "It's disrespectful to the royal family, you** ** _filthy_** **pirate." He began carefully eating, trying not to make a mess. Proper manners had been drilled into him since he could eat real food, and kicked in even when he was caught in this situation.**

 **The man, Luca, laughed, "Ha! I love it! It's like yer a generation behind. Well, Prince Elias, I don't hold any 'spect for your royal fam'ly. All they do is treat common folk like dirt. Throwing away anythin' they don't like." His voice held a slightly bitter tone that Elias ignored. This man was a pirate—all pirates hate the authority that seeks their lives. "'Sides, I'm pretty sure your dirtier than I am. As for bein' a pirate, yer right on. We all are, on here. But we're not going to hurt you unless you do something stupid, and the most punishment you'll likely get is a whack upsi' the head from the Cap'n. She doesn't tolerate stupid, no sir."**

 **She. The captain of this ship was a she. He scrolled through his head of known pirate captains that were female. He could think of about three that were well-known (compared to the nearly thirty infamous male captains). Aliana "The Trickster" Cooper, June "The Siren" Crawford, and the worst of them all—Pirate Princess Selene Celeste Fonix, commonly referred to as "The Silver Flame." The rumors that flew about her were the craziest of all.**

 **Such as her ship, which was said to be the most unusual ship in the world, fast and strong. It was said to be made of silvery materials that caused it to blend into the water during the day. She was like a phantom, striking navy ships and bases at random—or at least in a pattern so complex no one had been able to figure it out—and then disappearing. No one could say for sure what she looked like, other than she was said to have short hair and odd eyes.**

 **You'd think Elias would know more of what she looked like, but despite the woman pirate being the main focus of his brother's energies, Klaus refused to talk about the woman who kept escaping his grasp. Admiral Klaus Goldstein was famous for capturing infamous pirates, and had managed to capture several of the most notorious captains (as well as their crews) since his promotion to admiral after catching a particularly slippery pirate gang about five years back, when he was twenty-two.**

 **And the only one he hadn't managed to capture or kill after setting his eye upon them was the infamous Silver Flame, who was, in fact, a fairly new Captain, and had only been well-known for about three years. It had been two years since Klaus had set his sights on her capture, and he still hadn't managed to get her. And he wasn't the only one. She was just as wanted, at this point, as the Pirate King himself.**

 **Elias finished the food on the tray—it was phenomenal, and Elias had a hard time believing it was a pirate who made it, which led him to believe that the cook might be a captured chef—and looked up at Luca, unsure of what to do.**

 **Luca gestured to a little nightstand by the bed, "Katalina pestered Yukiya and convinced him to let you use a set of clothes, since the ones yer in are destroyed. Try not to wreck 'em. Yukiya's a careful lad, who takes very good care a' his things."**

 **Elias went over and grabbed the clothes. He paused and then looked at Luca.**

 **The green-haired man snorted, "Nobles. Pansies, the lot of ya. Jus' come out when yer done." He left the room, shutting the door behind him.**


	3. Part 1, Chapter 2

Chapter 2: New Information

"Thanks, Azusa-san. You really are my favorite trader." Selene smiled at the tall older man.

He smiled back, "I thank you, Selene-san. You always bring me the most interesting things. Is this all?"

She nodded, "For today, leastwise. We're running low on funds."

"Time to attack another navy base, then?" He smiled when Selene nodded, "Then I've got some news you'll want to here." He looked around and lowered his voice, "The navy is going to be holding a huge ball in a few weeks. If you hightail it to the West Base, it'll be a perfect time for infiltration. A certain Admiral will be in attendance, to boot." He pulled back and winked.

"Really?" Selene's eyes widened and she smiled wickedly, handing him a few more coins just for the heck of it. "How positively perfect."

Admiral Klaus Goldstein ran a hand through his hair as he refocused on the set of papers before him. He was exhausted. Twenty-seven years old and already burning out. Last week they'd managed to capture a very rowdy crew of small-time pirates, but there'd been a lack of new rumors of the crew of the _Elementress_ , particularly about its captain, the Silver Flame—meaning that she'd either been inactive for a few months or she was being extra careful to conceal her crime-doing—and not to mention he found out the previous day that the ship his little brother had been on, heading home for his summer vacation from school, was sunk in a storm. His mother had been distraught and hadn't, according to his father, left her room since. Elias, as the youngest, had always been doted on by their mother—a fact that neither he nor Percy had minded. Because they, too, dearly loved their brother, despite his lack of interest in gaining a governmental or military position like most men in their family. He was truly the baby of the family. And now he was gone.

There was a knock in the door, three crisp raps. Klaus stood up, hurriedly fixing the top buttons on his shirt. The door opened to reveal Fleet Admiral Walter Goldstein, his superior and his father. He looked older than when Klaus had seen him that morning. While Elias had never been liked as much by their father as the other two had been, Walter still loved his youngest son, and it was showed by his looking older by the hour.

"Sir." Klaus greeted. His father, in a rare show of not caring, waved his hand, "At ease, Klaus. I'm not in the mood for formality from you. You're my son right now, not my subordinate, and we're alone. Please, sit."

Klaus sat back down as his father pulled over the chair sitting by the door.

"Did you need something, father?"

Walter nodded stiffly, only once. "But not to start with. How are you holding up?"

"It's hard to believe he's gone." Klaus sighed, "No matter what my head says, my emotions are telling my head it's wrong, that Elias is still alive."

"I know how that feels, only mine is tinged with regret." His father's normally arrow-straight back stooped slightly, "I shouldn't have pushed him so hard towards a life he didn't want, nor should I have been so cold to him because of his lack of interest in that life. I'm ashamed to say that I don't even know what he _did_ want to do." He rubbed his temples with his hands, looking more beaten down than Klaus had ever seen him.

"An inventor. He wanted to make new ship designs. He wanted to be able to aid the capture of criminals and the protection of people without having to directly do the fighting." Klaus said, causing his father to look up in surprise, surprise that softened to sorrow. "And he never begrudged you, father, in fact, he admired you. He didn't hate you for trying to push him to be his best. I know that he loved you and wouldn't want you to regret him."

And Walter Goldstein, for the first time in a very long time, smiled. It wasn't much, just a shaky upturn of the lips, but it spoke volumes. "Thank you. I needed to hear that."

Klaus felt better having said it, too. Like he was comforting himself, as well. "Did you need something else, father?"

Walter's expression became more professional once more, the pained father pushed back. "Yes. I need you to attend the Quinquennium West ball. I know you were originally going, as was your older brother, your mother, and I. And now, you'll have to go alone. Your mother couldn't take it, your brother had been deployed on an emergency call, and I have to stay with your mother. I know I can trust you to go and represent our family in the proper manner. Are you up to it?"

Klaus paused, "Yes, sir."

Elias was taken to an office of sorts, and sat in a chair. "I highly recommen' you don't touch anythin'. The Cap'n hates it when people go through her things withou' her permission. She'll be here in a minute or two—she's helpin' carry things to storage. I've gotta go help get the ship undocked. I'd just not move, if I were you. Do that, and you'll be just fine. she'll probably coo over you, seein' as you're the type of thing she'd deem 'cute'." The green-haired man snorted and left, locking the door behind him.

He sat there for a few moments. Should he get up and try to learn something? Or should he do as he was told? He couldn't decide and just as he was about to convince himself to get up the lock in the door turned. He hadn't even heard anyone approach. The door opened to reveal a smiling woman—he couldn't tell exactly how old she was, but she looked young. Only the aura about her made him think she might be older than she looked. She had short blond hair that had hints of a bronze color, with nicely tanned skin. If it weren't for the feminine features of her face, and the fact he knew the captain of this ship was a girl, he might have thought her a younger boy in the breeches and shirt she was wearing. He'd never seen a female wearing men's garb before, and it freaked him out a bit. It shouldn't be as natural as this woman made it look.

"Well, hello, lad." She said cheerfully, hopping over to the desk and sitting atop it, to face him, "You're Elias, right? You look _just_ like your older brother, Kranky Klaus, you know. I've heard he looks like your father, but I've never had the displeasure of meeting the man."

He said nothing, staring at her wide-eyed. This had to be the Silver Flame. Who else would be crazy enough to insult his brother like that?

"Silent treatment, hmm? Eh, Oh is Well." She shrugged, seemingly undeterred from her happy-go-lucky attitude, "I'm Selene, the Captain of this beautiful ship, the _Elementress_. You can call me either Captain, or just Selene. I'm not much of one for formalities. Are you feeling any better? From what Katalina told me, you had a bump on your noggin, a bad fever, and were a dehydrated to boot. Oh, yeah, Katalina's the healer of the ship. She's about your age, to be honest, but a good lass who's quick to learn the healer's art. She'll be one of the best in the world one day, mark my words."

The Silver Flame sounded like a proud mother. This woman was downright confusing. The rumors made her out to be extremely tall and powerful, cruel and ruthless to everyone she came across. A dark creature of the depths of the ocean who raged on the innocent. How could this girl, who was only a few inches taller than him, with the carefree smile of a child, be the Silver Flame? She was no dark creature, in fact, she practically glowed with childish glee.

It had to be a trap. Act all nice and then get any possible secrets he might have then slit his throat and deliver him to his family in pieces. Yes, that sounded entirely possible, considering he was the prisoner of one of the most notorious criminals of the day.

She looked at him, head tilted and still smiling, "Hello? Are you going to answer? It's terribly rude to ignore people, Elias."

"Who said you could address me so familiarly?" He said, putting on his noble airs, trying to keep the scared tremble from his voice.

She laughed, "I did, silly. And relax, I'm not going to hurt you or grill you for secrets. You're ten years old. I highly doubt you know anything of actual importance that I don't already know. My first mate has an information network bigger and better than any military or government network, so why hurt people to learn things I already know? Seriously, why save you from the water just to kill you? That's counterproductive, 'specially since Katalina used up most of her stock of feverfew and morning dew weed to break that nasty fever. Well, to be honest, she was running low anyway. Another thing we'll restock up on soon." She sighed, shaking her head, "I better stop before I start trying to make a list of what we're short on. That's Serge's job. He's my quartermaster." She rubbed the back of her head, eyes closed and still smiling, "I've got to remind myself that that's not my job anymore. Serge is newer, you see, and I did the job before he joined." She paused, "Dang tangents. They always get me!" Then she laughed, "Now, let's take you up to the deck. You'll be with us for a handful of weeks, so we might as well be friendly. Mine's a fun crew, even if half of them are all calm and/or quiet." She hopped off the desk and went over to the door, opening it. She looked back at him, still in the chair, "You coming?"

He stood up and stiffly followed her, trying to make sense of the long dialogue she just released. She skipped along the narrow hallway like a child and up the short set of stairs that led to the deck. Elias blinked rapidly. Even compared to the Silver Flame's office, it was a lot brighter outside. His eyes adjusted and he saw a group of people pulling at the ship's rigging and getting the ship set to sail.

"It's a good seaward wind today." The Silver Flame twirled once, arms outstretched. "And a lovely sun to accompany it." She cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted, "Luca! Everything set? We're heading towards Jonny and his lot! Full speed! Time's shorter than I'd like as it is!"

"Aye Cap'n!" the green-haired man called back, pulling the ropes that kept the sail tied up. The pretty grey sails unfurled, immediately catching the wind. The ship jolted slightly and Elias knew that his chance to escape was gone. The boat quickly began picking up speed, and he watched wistfully as the port where they'd been docked grow smaller. He was a weak swimmer and there was no hope of surviving if he jumped and tried to make it.

"You wouldn't find help there anyway. More like harm. It's a pirate's haven, Elias, and plenty of people would love to give you to your brother in bits. He's captured a lot of friends and family of people not only there, but at most of the haven's on this half the world. Don't worry, though, where we're going no one'll hurt ya, not without having to answer to me and my lot." There was something slightly frightening in her smile, something that promised trouble to those who crossed her.

He decided he might as well dare a question. "And just where are we going?"

"To Jonny's place." She said cheerfully, "Of course, you'd better call him Captain John. King John works, too, but he prefers captain. Says "King" sounds to much like the stuffy european royalty. He's my adoptive father, and the current King of Pirates."

Elias nearly choked on air, "You're t-taking me to the _Pirate King_?!"

"Naw, not you specifically. I just need some aid for my next adventure, and who better to go to than my former Captain? You being here really has nothing to do with it, don't worry." She said, "Now, let's go meet the crew."

By now, the ship was sailing on it's own, and no one one was even at the wheel. Elias was awed. While this was a smaller ship than most navy battle vessels, it wasn't a tiny merchant or fishing ship. How did they get it to stay on course with so few people? It normally took a handful more to keep a ship this size going properly. There must be some trick to it. He'd just have to figure it out.

"Now, you've already met my first mate, Luca Orlem." She nudged the smiling man with the earring, who'd come up and put his arm around her shoulders.

"What'd I tell ya, Prince Elias?" He smirked, "yer just fine, ain't ya?"

"Don't call me that!" Elias snapped. This man was infuriating.

The Silver Flame slid from under the arm of the taller human and whacked said human upside the head, "One, don't antagonize. Two, what have I told you about that _nonword_?"

"I _ain't_ gonna use it no more, honest!" The man chortled as he dodged another whack.

She glanced at Elias, "Ignore him. He's absolutely up to no good most of the time. Honestly, I think only reason he's first mate is because he's halfway-useful in a fight."

"Hey! I take offense to that Cap'n!"

"Yet you walked right into that one, Luca." A boy with brown hair and eyes walked up, smiling. Elias also noticed he wore an eyepatch. "Hello, there, I'm Merlin, the ship's sole Gunner. I also work most of the mechanics and whatnot. Feel free to ask me if you have any questions about how the _Elementress_ herself works—I'd know, seeing as I designed it and all. Now, you'll have to excuse me. I've got some repairs on a cannon to make." He gave a lazy wave before walking off, heading below deck.

"He has two working eyes." the Silver Flame commented, "That's just so he doesn't have to wait for his eyes to adjust to the darkness below deck, and then again when he comes up. He switches it between eyes, see." She tapped the side of her forehead, "He's clever, just like the rest of my crew. We have to be, to avoid your brother. He's a smart man, I'll admit, and sometimes he's come pretty dang close to winning. But we always pull ahead, in the end." She laughed, "Yuki! Lyra! Lina! Come over, will you?"

A dark haired youth with an eyepatch and a wolf—of all things!—at his heels was first to come.

"This is Yukiya, my Sailing Master. He figures out how to get where we want to go—not to mention he makes most of the food on this vessel. He's not a talkative one, that's for certain. But a kinder lad you'll never find." Selene introduced as Yukiya held out his hand. Elias hesitantly shook it. "And the wolf doesn't really have a name. Not that he'd respond to it if he did have one. Katalina calls him Wolfy, though." the Silver Flame added.

Two girls came behind him, one chattering and the other silently listening. The quiet older girl was the one who brought him the food earlier. Her brunette hair covered one eye and she wore a conservative lilac dress, with long, fitted sleeves, even in this heat. The only thing that kept it from being completely old-fashioned were the sturdy books peeking out from the slightly-too-short hem.

The other one was his age, and looked familiar—it was her. Elias hoped that the red in his face would be attributed to the warmth of the sun and not the fact that the girl looked a lot prettier in the light, with her brown pigtails bouncing as she skipped along.

"Philyra's the more reserved one. She's our all-around gal. She helps Yukiya will the cooking, mostly, and with the cleaning around the ship. Odd jobs and the like. Sorry to pull you away, Lyra, but do you and Yukiya mind getting the ship's navigation set for the King's Cove?" Philyra and Yukiya nodded, heading off. Selene turned to Elias and whispered, "Most of us on the ship are trying to set the two of them up. Philyra's so shy around him, though, and Yukiya is so distant that it's difficult to get him to think about things like romancin'. But we try. Those two are _destined_ for each other."

"They are. Completely, entirely, truly soul mates." The other girl, who must be Katalina, cut in, giggling. "It's cute, funny, and a tad annoyin' how they keep going in circles around each other."

"Ah! That's right. This, Elias, is the crew's healer, Katalina. She's the newest member of our little family. It'll be her first time meeting Jonny, too. He knows of her, of course, because of Blayze." Selene said.

"Blayze is her messenger bird. No one can figure out his breed. He's odd, but sweet enough. He doesn't like Luca very much though, and'll peck him if he goes near. Can't blame him, though, seeing as Luca likes calling him a 'feather duster'." Katalina smiled at him, "You're lookin' much better, I must say." She suddenly leaned in really close and pressed her forehead to his. He flushed and jerked back, and she smiled. "Fever's completely gone, anyhow."

"Katalina, I've got a few things I need to do. Like get Serge to go and get me an updated inventory and help approximate the costs before I go crazier and do it myself. Do you mind showing Elias here around the ship? Yukiya's letting him use the spare cot in his room, so make sure he knows where that is."

Katalina nodded, "Gladly, Captain!"

Selene waved and skipped along to below deck, a mischievous glint in her eye.

Selene sighed and set the paper down. "Done. This is the highest possible cost, no?" It was shortly after sunset.

"Yup. But with your bargaining skills, you can probably work it down a third of the way. Even more if we nick some of this stuff right off." Serge confirmed. "Speaking of nicking, you had a look in your eye when you can back aboard. New idea?"

She nodded, "Oh heck yes. This might possibly be the most devious thing this crew has ever done, _and_ , if it goes right, we'll be able to kill three birds with one stone."

"Three?"

"Yes. One, we'll get the lad we picked up home—I don't harm innocents, after all—two, we'll be able to get more than enough loot to restock, and three, I might just be able to gain another point over a certain Admiral." Selene said, gathering up the papers, smirking wickedly.

"Sounds like a bargain to me."

"Indeed."

… **. …. ….**

This crew was nothing like the tales he'd heard of—they did next to nothing that seemed remotely pirate-like. If fact, the only one who genuinely looked like a pirate was the first mate, and it was clear that he did it on purpose, with his odd, long green hair, single earring, and stereotypical curved sword. Not to mention the way he talked. Out of the entire crew, Elias liked Luca the least. The man was simply infuriating, and seemed to find great amusement in annoying the crap out of him. At one point, however, he'd found the man with a sketchbook, legs dangling over the edge of the ship. He was drawing a woman, with a warrior's armor and a sword pointed outward, towards the person whose perspective was seeing her. She looked annoyed.

"Who's she?" Elias asked before he could stop himself. The likeness looked familiar, but he couldn't quite place her.

"Marelda Krammer. Female warrior, one of the best in the land." He said, oddly proud, "And I'm proud to say that I'm hopelessly in love with her." He sighed making a dramatic hand motion, "Alas! My feelings are but unreturned, for her's is a cold heart of copper, one she keeps polished, to prevent the tarnish of love from reaching it."

Elias gave him a look, confused and a little weirded out. He knew Ms. Krammer. She'd worked with Klaus on several occasions. How Luca was in love with such an intimidating person, he'd never understand.

Katalina, the pretty lass his age, was thrilled that there was someone her age on board, and spent a lot of time with him. Despite his curt manner around her, he quite liked the girl. She was sweet, albeit her tendency to chatter, and loved being able to learn things about medicine from him—it was another one of the many things Elias had to study for certain classes about (though it was mostly about the plants and their properties). If Elias had to choose, she'd be his favorite. She was so more open and happy and playful than most of the girls he knew growing up, so quick to grin with all her heart.

Yukiya, the youth with whom he shared a room, seemed like a decent fellow, if a little untalkative. Philyra, the quiet girl, was almost like a phantom, and just faded into the background unless Selene pulled her from it.

Yes. The Silver Flame was probably the most peculiar person he'd ever met. Truly the exception to every rule, she managed to defy normal logic and reason with her own unique brand of the stuff. Not to mention that she consistently contradicted herself in the most humorous of ways—to keep everyone on their toes, Katalina informed him, because Selene always said it was the people who let their heels down were the ones who were to slow to save themselves from the unexpected.


	4. Part 1, Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Third Chances

They were on the ocean for about a week before this conversation. Elias had woken up from a dream, and been swamped by a suffocating bout of homesickness. He lay in bed for a short while before deciding to get some air.

He slid out of the cot attached to the wall and noticed that Yukiya was in bed, meaning it was at least midnight. Yukiya usually had the evening watch, he'd learned, while Luca or Serge alternated the mid'a the night watch. Selene always had the morning, those last few hours before dawn.

Walking to the door, he saw the wolf raise it's head from where it lay at the foot of Yukiya's cot. Elias froze, his eyes caught in the amber gaze. Then, it seemed to roll its eyes in a very human-like manner before it put it's head back down. But of course, wolves can't roll their eyes at people, so it was probably a trick of the weak light coming in from the uncovered porthole.

He went out the door, shutting it soundlessly behind him, before tip-toeing his way towards the deck. He could tell that it was about an hour until dawn. Early, yes, but late enough where he wouldn't have go back to bed. He walked over to the railing and leaned on it, looking out at the horizon. They were traveling northwest, clearly, since he could see the north star off to the side.

"Homesick?"

Elias jumped so suddenly he lost his balance, and would have tumbled right into the ocean if he hadn't been grabbed by the arm and pulled back.

"Careful now. The sea is at her most unclear right before dawn." Selene smiled, a small, wistful smile, and leaned back against the railing, next to him. "My mama used to say that."

"Used to?" Elias hadn't seen this Selene before. She was so calm, and almost looked like she was in a state of weary peace.

"She passed away when I was seven. Consumption. Watched her slowly waste away." She released a breath, "I was all alone after that, until Jonny's brother, Inan, found me. They had stopped at our port to make some repairs on their ship, and caught me nicking some bread. Took me back to the ship and introduced me to his Captain. Jonny offered me a way out. He's a good man. Most of his men, on most of his ships, are men, with the occasional woman, he picked up as kids or youth. The orphans. The ones who fled war-stricken homes. The hopeless humans without anywhere to go. Of course, my story is a little different. Instead of keeping me at King's Cove to work, or on one of the non-pirating ships, like most of the children they take in, Inan said he had a feeling they should keep me on the main ship. This was before Jonny's six younger brothers broke off to manage their own fleets. So they kept me on the head ship—Inan's feeling are usually things to be followed, 'cause it's uncanny how accurate they tend to be."

"But...a young girl, on a ship full of pirate men?" Elias said, flabbergasted, "They didn't...do anything?"

"Nothin' but act like annoying older brothers." Selene laughed, "They're good men, the lot of them. Lots of pirates are the ones in rumors, and do all sorts of terrible things, but our current King is a good, fair, kind man. Any of his brother's fleets are good, too. It's the ones that aren't one of the King's main fleets that cause the trouble and break the Pirate's code."

"Pirate's code?" Elias asked, "What's that?"

"Well, I never bothered to memorize the exact wording, but it pretty much sums up to two things: no taking from anyone but those who can more than provide from themselves—this bit's mostly common sense, though. Why take from those who don't have much to begin with? It's the rich that have the best loot. That, and most of our own come from the ranks of the poor, the starving." She said, "And the other one is one I stick to like duckling to it's mother. No hurting innocents, particularly children. The pirates who don't follow those rules give the good pirates like my crew a bad name. I'm pretty sure you know we're not entirely evil, by now."

"You're all completely different than what I've heard." He admitted, "The Silver Flame is legend. She's the epitome of everything bad about pirates. Some aren't even sure she exists, because of the way she vanishes after an attack."

Selene snorted, amused, "Ha. I bet most of those rumors are spread by my biggest target: the World Navy. And while I doubt your brother spreads them—he's too busy chasing me for that sort of nonsense—I don't doubt many of his men do, seeing as they make good tales to boast about."

"He rarely even mentions you, you know. Even when people ask him." He commented, "I always thought it odd, how fixated he remains on you, but now I see you're just the kind of person who'd drive him crazy." He said, making Selene burst out laughing.

"Ha! I make most of my living by annoying the crap out of your brother!" she snickered. "I actually have these two little notebooks, one of them full, where I keep record of points. Every small victory gets a point. I've got about twice as many as he does, and his points are no small number." She looked over at him, "And the funniest thing is, I'm pretty sure he's got an identical record."

That made Elias laugh, "I think he does, actually. Last summer I went into his room—he was on a mandatory vacation, you see, because he refused to take one, so our father had to give him an official command to take a break—and I looking for some blank paper, because I'd run out and wanted to finish the set of notes I was working on. His room is right next to mine, see. And I found this small journal, mostly because I knocked it off the desk. I opened it to the beginning. It had the initials KG, which I assumed was him. There were a few pages of tally marks. I turned it around and opened it from the other end, because there were lots of blank pages in the middle. The backside of the last page, as well as several of the ones before it, were also covered in marks. But that last page had the letters SF, which I now realize stand for 'Silver Flame'."

This caused Selene to start laughing anew, "Ha! I knew it! I totally called it!"

They both managed to quell their laughter a few minutes later.

"You're a lot more relaxed than your brother." She mused, "And honestly, I'm kind of glad we happened upon you. Katalina's thrilled to have someone her age around. Whenever I ask her if she'd like to live in King's Cove with one of the families there, she always insists she'd rather be here. I can't blame her, really."

"Why not?"

"She's not had an easy life. Well, to be fair, no one in my crew has. Katalina lost her parents to an epidemic a few years ago. She traveled to the nearest town, one by the sea, to try and find work. She was only about nine. I found her when a brothel owner was trying to convince her to let him take her in. I gave _him_ a nice shiner and scolding, and her a home on the ship. That was a little over a year ago."

Elias shuddered. A brothel owner? He felt pangs of pity for the girl. Not only had she lost her parents and her home, but she nearly ended up in such a horrible place.

"So, that's why I let her stay. We've become her family. I'm not going to force her elsewhere. She's a part of our family. For most of us, we're all we got." Selene was looking upward, at the stars. "We've all got our tragic pasts."

"What's so tragic about them?" Elias was far more curious than he'd admit. This strange crew confused him, and he felt that knowing their pasts would help him understand them.

"Well, you already know mine and Katalina's, and I know none of them would mind me telling you," she replied. "I've got two geniuses aboard this ship. Serge is one of them. Back when he was in school—he's was a merchant's son—he and his best friend, Randy, were always experimenting. Trying to find cures, or new ways to do things. It originally began because he wanted to help his grandmother, whose health had always been frail. She took him in when he was a baby, his parents dead. He normally avoids those things now, his experimentations."

"Why?"

"Because one of them went wrong. The heat on a beaker of strong acid was a little too high, and it was covered because they didn't know the heater was on. Randy saw that it was about to burst and shoved Serge behind a table. It exploded, covering him in acid. He died from the burns the next day. It broke something in Serge. He blamed himself, no matter how much people, particularly Randy's family, told him it wasn't. And what's worse, his grandmother passed away soon after. She ran a sweets shop, and the new owner, a man who'd worked there for years, told him he was welcome to stay, but Serge couldn't bear staying, so he left. I helped him out of a tight spot about two and a half years ago, and offered him a spot on my ship. He took it, and has been an asset. Smart man, even if he does avoid what he used to love."

"Wow. I never would've guessed. He's always so cheerful."

"He's a lot better than he used to be, I'll tell you that. He wasn't always that way," Selene said. "I guess I'll go to Philyra next. She always wears long sleeves, as you've probably noticed, and never lets anyone see much of her skin, not even of her face. That's because she's covered in scars."

Elias choked on his breath and looked over at Selene. Her face was solemn, a new expression.

"She grew up in an abusive family, and after her father died when she was ten, she was sold into slavery. I freed when I was only a year on my own. I couldn't let her stay there, especially after a certain man had hurt her." Her tone turned dark and frightening as she said that last sentence, only to return to a lighter tone when she continued, which made Elias wonder just _how_ that man had hurt her. "I later managed to get Jonny to disband that group. We've been doing that for years, did you know? It's not the Navy or the governments setting enslaved people free—it's the very pirates they waste so much energy on! Us and our brethren on the land, who work more covertly. Ironic, isn't it?" Selene shook her head, "And then there's people like Yukiya. His village had been attacked by raiders a handful of years back. His father was killed, and when they invaded his home, his mother and younger siblings were hiding in a cellar covered by a rug. Yukiya was above ground, trying to protect them. He did, all right, and got blinded in his eye for it. If it hadn't been for Wolfy joining the attack when he did, Yukiya'd probably be dead now. Him and his family. After the raiders left, he took his mother, younger brother, as well as his little sisters, and fled. They were picked up by my ship after Yukiya punched a Navy officer who was chasing Philyra—a man who tried to lure her into his bed and got mad when she refused—and I took them to King's Cove, where his family could live in peace. His mother now works in Jonny's home, and his brother, Nico, is apprenticed to a shipbuilder. His sisters are gettin' an education, too."

Selene paused, taking a few breaths before continuing, "Hmm...who's left? I think it's only Luca and Merlin. Have you noticed how whenever the royal family comes up, he gets all bitterish?"

Elias nodded.

"That's because they threw him on the streets. Not your country's, but an ally of Gedonelune."

"Was he a servant's son or something?" Elias asked, confused.

"He was someone's son, all right. He was the illegitimate child of the youngest princess of Italia. His mother refused to give up the name of the father, and died in childbirth. Her friend, a royal advisor by the name of Conrad Schuyler, resigned when it was declared the child was to be killed. He smuggled Luca out and raised him among the poor, because that's the only place they were safe. Eventually, they were found. Luca was fifteen. Conrad had him run, but he himself was killed. Luca lived on the streets, surviving by pickpocketing and his wits, which are sharper than he lets one. I found him back when I was still on Jonny's ship. We were both about seventeen at the time. He joined the crew, and left with me when I decided to split. As you learned the other day, he's fallen hopelessly in love with Marelda Krammer. I think he loves teasing her as much as I enjoy annoying your brother, only he openly declares his love for her whenever he sees her." She laughed, her tone far lighter than it had been, "Honestly, watching him do it never gets old, because poor Ms. Krammer gets so irritated by it.."

Elias was silent. Luca—ignoring his antics—the annoying man who teased him to no end, was the son of a princess?

"And then there's Merlin. He's the least tragic of us all. He's the youngest son of Jonny, and only a year older than I. We grew up like brother and sister, as I did with many of his brothers. When I started to play with the idea of commanding my own ship, he offered to design it, with the condition he'd be a part of the crew and get to stay with the ship. He's brilliant with technology, and creates new things all the time. This ship is probably the most complex and modern of any on the seas. That's why we can run it with so few people. It was designed so a minimum of three people can sail her. Which made sense seeing as that's all we had for a crew at the start."

Elias was in awe. _Three_ people?! No ship bigger than a little fishing boat could have so few people to man it!

"We also don't need someone at the wheel all the time. The navigation systems on this thing are crazy. We also have this thing below deck with a name I can never remember—I call it the Wheel—that, if two decently strong people work it, can propel us out of becalmed waters. It's ingenious." Selene laughed, "When I told Jonny I wanted to break away and have my own ship, he funded the entire thing, and pretty much let Merlin go wild with his designs. I payed him back, of course, within a year. It was the raid that made me famous."

Elias knew this one, "The Attack of Silver Sails." It was when the world first came to know the Silver Flame. The way it was often told was that a silver ship with a demoness captain appeared out of nowhere one foggy morning, and shot a hole in a Navy battleship carrying treasury funds. It was robbed for all it was worth by a hellish crew of a dozen or so men, only to vanish before the sun burned away the fog. Rumors and tales had flown across the world, and soon after, the Silver Flame had struck again, quickly becoming an all-too-real terror

She nodded. "'Twas actually the maiden voyage of the _Elementress_. There were only three real members of the crew—Luca, who decided to come along because he insisted it would be interesting, Merlin, and I—while the rest were people there in case this ship didn't do so well on the waters. There was a small ship trailing behind us in case it sank or something. It was foggy, another reason they were being so careful. We stumbled upon the Navy ship—it was the _S.S. Isabella_ , actually—entirely by accident."

"Are you serious? The attack that made you famous was by accident?" Elias gaped.

"Yup. And we weren't the ones to first attack. They were. They didn't recognize my flag and assumed we were pirates. We weren't out to pirate that day, but they attacked us. And so, we fought back. Merlin's specialized cannons crippled theirs, and made them unable to move the ship. We decided we might as well get something out of it and boarded. While most of the men fought the navy, Luca and I slipped below deck and found a good deal of gold. So we took it. It more than paid back Jonny, and still had enough to fully stock our ship." Selene laughed, "It was on that ship your brother was. He was still young, not yet an admiral. It was about a year and a half before he was promoted to admiral. He was stuck guarding the room with the gold. As far as he knows, that's the first time we clashed blades. I knocked him out before he realized otherwise. That's what started the point thing, the rivalry of sorts."

"What do you mean, as far as he knows?" Elias asked. "Had you met previously?"

"Several times, in fact." She said, entirely serious, "I was very different, though, whereas your brother really hasn't changed look-wise, excusing the fact that he no longer looks like a boy. I, however, looked like a boy and died my hair alternately red, blue, and dark brown, with henna, indigo, and chestnuts. Therefore, I looked way different than I do now. At the point where we fought in Silver Sails, my hair was it's natural blond and I was old enough to where one could tell I was a woman if I didn't bind my chest flat. If I tried, though, I could still pass as a boy on the cusp of manhood." She explained.

"You seem way too proud of that." Elias deadpanned.

She laughed, "I am. I really, really am. But honestly, it's a lot easier to blend in dressed as a lad than as a woman. No one gives a lad a second glance if he's wanderin' around on his own. A woman, however, is a very different story. So, whenever we dock somewhere I'm not known very well or a place where I'm not familiar with, I don my guise of boyhood. 'Course, all that means is wearing a hat and binding my chest tighter than normal. I already wear men clothes—they're so much easier to move in than skirts! Be glad you're a lad. You don't have to constantly trip over skirts when you try to move faster than a shuffle."

Elias didn't respond. She was odd, truly odd.

"You know, I remember the first time I saw your brother. He must have been about eighteen—I was sixteen, see—and he was entirely green. Never seen a battle. I was on Eric's ship—Merlin's next oldest brother—and we attacked and boarded the navy ship he was on. He was stronger than I was, I admit, and my close combat skills were still being worked on, and he nearly got me, but I managed to start climbing the rigging on his ship. He tried to follow me, but unlike myself, he hadn't been climbing the ropes since the age of nine. He got all tangled and stuck in the ropes. It was downright hilar…"

Elias was giggling when Selene suddenly cut off. He looked over and saw she had tensed.

"Elias." She said, voice even and serious, "Go wake up Yukiya. Tell him 'Garrick.' And then do the same with Serge. Yukiya will go get Merlin. Then, go hide in Katalina's room and keep her calm. Philyra will likely be there soon."

"W-why?"

"Do as I say. Hurry!" She pushed him towards the door before disappearing into her room, which was the highest on ship, a branch off of the top of the stairs.

Elias ran and shook Yukiya, "Yukiya, wake up! Selene got all weird and told me to get you up and tell you 'Garrick' or something like that."

Yukiya immediately sat up and scrambled for his boots.

"What's going on?" Elias asked.

"Enemy pirate. Go!"

Elias ran off and woke up Serge, who also scrambled to get ready quickly before running to go wake up Merlin. Elias went into Katalina's room and found Philyra waking the younger girl up.

"What's going on?" Katalina asked, half-asleep, sitting up on her bed.

"Selene said Garrick. Yukiya said it's an enemy pirate." Elias said, sitting on the bed next to Katalina.

Philyra, who had taken a seat in a nearby chair, froze, "He's a monster."

Elias looked over at her, wide-eyed. That was the first time he'd heard the quiet girl say _anything_.

"He's the man who ran the largest slave-trade before Selene shut it down." Katalina said quietly. "He's got a nasty vendetta against Selene. And this is the third attack in the past three years. So it won't end well."

"W-what's that supposed to mean?" He asked.

"Selene gives people like Garrick three chances to leave her and the people she cares about alone. After the third chance, if they still won't, she has to...has to…" Katalina buried her face in her hands, trying to stifle a sob.

"She kills them." Philyra finished softly.

Elias couldn't move, for this paralyzing fear had crept into his very bones and froze them. It was a moment before he could speak, and what was only because the ship shuddered ever-so-slightly with the force of one of it's cannons being fired.

"But how many times has my brother and his men attacked you guys? It's far more than three...why's he still alive?" His arm twitched, wanting to wrap itself around Katalina, who was biting her palm to keep from openly sobbing in fear.

"Because he's only doing his job. That, and Selene sees him as a game, a challenge. She knows that he couldn't care less about anyone on this ship except her. If she was to turn herself in, for example, he's gladly leave the rest of us be. Your brother is a fair man who keeps his word. Garrick is a monster who is fixated on destroying Selene and her crew. That's the difference." Philyra said with an air of finality. She was trembling, and it made Elias think of how Philyra had been a slave, once.

"Was he the man who hurt you?" Elias asked, voice quiet.

Philyra's eyes opened slightly more, but she nodded and didn't say another word.

Despite her efforts, Katalina couldn't stop a small cry from escaping. Elias steeled himself and wrapped his arms around her. She immediately cuddled up to him, seeking comfort as she buried her face in his chest. Her small frame shook with scared, yet silent, sobs. Elias tightened his arms. He was just as scared now as she was. The only difference was that he wanted to be brave for his friend that at this point he knew he liked more than that.

"Katalina, it'll be just fine. I mean, Selene's pretty spectacular, isn't she? Before she saw the ship, she was telling me about all of you. She managed to save you all before, hasn't she? I've no doubt she'll do it again." Elias said, trying to mimic the soothing tones his mother used back when he was small and had woken from nightmares—and this whole situation was a nightmare in and of itself.

Selene made sure the door to below deck was locked to the outside as soon as Luca, Serge, and Yukiya were above deck—someone from the inside could open it, but not the outside. It wouldn't be unlocked until they were away from the danger. That way, no one could get down there and hurt her kids.

Yes, both Philyra and Katalina were her daughters, in her mind, and she, like a true mother, would do anything to protect them. Elias, too, had become like a son in the past week or so he'd been with them.

She was going to keep them safe. This marked the end of Garrick's last chance. And he wasn't going to have much time to regret it.

The _Elementress_ vibrated slightly as Merlin fired the first cannon, barely grazing the other ship. A warning shot. She always gave one. Only one.

But the ship still advanced.

A second cannon fired, and this time, instead of a slight scrape and a sound of a large metal ball crashing into the waves, a sound of cracking wood permeated the air. Direct hit to the main mast, disabling their ship. A quick third, fourth, and fifth followed, knocking out the cannons on the side that had pulled up next to them. Selene would have to remember to congratulate Merlin. He beat his personal record with time and accuracy.

Luca handed her the amplification horn. The ship Garrick commanded may have been bigger, but they were definitely faster and more agile. He may have more than three times the men, but her boys—not to mention herself—were resourceful. She knew what the revenge-crazed man would want, and it wasn't her ship or crew. It was her. But he'd gladly hurt anything to get in his way, ship, or human.

" **Garrick! I call parley!** " She shouted. None of her crew understood her. It was her native language, not common, and they didn't know it. But it was also Garrick's native tongue.

She faintly heard gleeful laughter. She shook her head and handed the horn back to Luca, "You three stay here. Merlin won't fire again unless I give the signal."—being a string that ran down to the room where Merlin worked the cannons, attached to a bell—"And I've got a plan. If any try to sneak onto the ship, detain, don't kill. I plan to end this today. Luca, mind if I borrow your sword? Mine still has the fracture."

They all nodded, and Luca unstrapped his sword and handed it to his captain. Selene removed her blade and handed it to Luca as she accepted his own. She wore it for appearances, seeing as she preferred knives, but appearances were not going to suffice now. She began to climb the ropes, preparing to make the jump to the other ship, Luca's sword dangling bare-bladed from her belt. Reaching the proper height, she unhooked the sword and leapt onto the enemy ship, rolling and coming up on her feet, blade pointing towards the ground. She was not as good at the curved sword as she was at her knives and daggers, but she was far from incompetent.

" **Garrick, where are you.** " It was a calm, collected statement, not a question.

" **Well, well, the Princess arrives. Surrendering yourself in hopes I'll leave your crew be?** " Selene watched, face expressionless, as Garrick Azuron stalked over, a mad, cocky grin stretching his mouth.

" **No. I've come to challenge you to a duel.** " She said simply, " **To the death. You and I. Winner gets command of both ships and their crew. If I lose, my crew and ship will obey you, upon their oath to me, even after my death. Try and harm them, and you lose the ability to work my ship, for it takes a special kind of knowledge to use it, and only my crew knows how. I win, I get your ship and crew. It's an all or nothing situation.** " And she knew Garrick loved a good gamble, and in his desperation to get rid of her, she knew he would not refuse. Her crew hadn't agreed to her plan, heck, they didn't have any inkling of it, but she wasn't going to lose. She had people to protect.

There's an old question: Which fighter is more dangerous, the one with nothing left to lose, or the one with _everything_ to lose? Selene was a believer in the latter, and intended to keep it that way.

" **Oh ho!** " Garrick laughed, " **Getting desperate, aren't you? Well, I accept!** "

" **No interference from the crew. Unless you can't take a girl on by yourself?** " She taunted.

He smirked, " **I need no help to defeat you, Princess. You're isolated, no crew to help you. I don't need help to bring you down.** " He then rose his voice, so the entirety of his crew, which was gathered on the deck in a circle around their captain and his enemy. " **None of you curs interfere, or I'll kill you myself! Understood?** " A series of "Aye!"s rang through the air. Garrick pulled out his sword, " **Prepare yourself, Princess!** "

She raised Luca's sword. " **I need no preparation for the likes of you.** "

Elias and Katalina jumped when someone knocked on the door. Philyra got up and opened it a crack before letting someone in—Merlin.

"Garrick's ship is disabled and they can't shoot us from the way they are." He said, then looked down, "But Luca sent a message down to the control room. Selene boarded their ship, alone, saying she had a plan." His shoulder's slumped, "I know I should trust her, and that she can handle herself, but I'll admit I'm terrified and don't want to be by myself in the control room. Would you guys mind coming and sitting in there with me? There's plenty of room, and I can't afford to be away for long, just in case."

"Of course we will!" Katalina declared, "We're a family. And families stick together."

This isn't what pirates are said to be like, Elias thought. This isn't what is said at all. And what's said seems to be wrong.

Yukiya expressed that he was certain Selene would be fine. Serge said she was as clever and quick-witted as they come. Both were worried, yes, but not as much as Luca. Luca had been with Selene since before she was the Silver Flame, and never before had she taken on something like this completely alone, without any sort of backup.

He asked Serge for his spyglass before climbing up to the crow's nest at the top of the main mast. None of the other crew seemed to notice him. They were all focused on two figures. Luca extended the spyglass and closed an eye.

There were two figures in the empty space of a circle formed by the crew of the ship. Selene and Garrick. They seemed to be talking, and then they both raised their swords. Luca's knuckles were tense and white as he clutched the spyglass.

Selene and Garrick went at each other. Selene swiftly dodged Garrick's strike, knocking him off balance. This seemed to anger the man, as he attacks with a new intensity. Luca saw the two clashed blades again and again, until Garrick's sword nicked Selene's left arm, drawing first blood. Then it clicked, and Luca realized that it was a fight to the death. Selene was giving Garrick no more chances.

Luca watched as the fight intensified, as Garrick's crew cheered or booed. Eventually, Selene managed to knock Garrick off his feet, and with one quick movement, run her—Luca's—sword through Garrick's neck. The crew went silent as Selene pulled the blade out and flicked it once, splattering the blood on it to the deck.

And slowly, one by one, each of them fell to one knee. Selene had clearly won not only the duel, but Garrick's ship and crew. Luca let out the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. Climbing down, he relayed what happened to the other two.

Selene turned to Garrick's first mate, Geysis Tempestus. " **I have command of this ship**." She stated.

" **You do. Captain.** " the man said, not a trace of emotion visible on his face. " **We are willing to obey you. We've all had enough of Garrick's obsessive nature. You are free to lead us.** "

" **I do not wish to. I have my own crew that I very much prefer. Therefore,** " She looked around, at the crew, " **I will give command to Geysis Tempestus. He will be the captain of the ship if no one has a complaint or claim.** " The crew was silent. " **However, there are a few conditions. The first being that everyone on this ship must adhere to the current pirate code. The second, I swear that Garrick will not be alone in hell if any of you** _ **ever**_ **come after my family again.** _**Am I understood?**_ "

The crew all responded. Selene nodded. " **Then farewell.** " She looked over the side of the ship. Her's was close enough. She hucked Luca's sword over and it landed with a clatter on her deck several feet from her men. "Serge, Yukiya! Catch!" She brought a foot up and launched herself off the side, towards her own ship. She was safely caught by her brothers, who were family in all but blood. She went over to the door that lead below deck, pulling the key from around her neck and unlocking it.

"You're bleeding." Yukiya said from behind her.

"It's a scratch. I'll live. Katalina will fix me up. Send her to my room and tell Merlin to come up and help get the ship going." Selene didn't even look back as she shut herself in her room.

By the time Katalina came out of Selene's quarters, the other ship was long behind them and they were well on their way to King's Cove again. The rest of the crew, including Elias, were sitting on the deck, eating a meal quietly.

"How is she?" Serge said.

"It wasn't bad. Didn't even need stitches. With her unusually fast rate of healing, it'll be gone in a week. Won't even leave a scar." Katalina reported.

"But how _is_ she?" Merlin insisted.

"I don't think she'll be coming out much until we reach King's Cove." Katalina's face held a look of concern, and worry shone in her eyes. "She's fallen into a state again."

"A...state?" Elias said, quiet and confused.

Merlin turned to the boy, "That's right. You've not been here that long. I keep forgetting."

"He's practically one us at this point!" Luca joked weakly. Even he lacked his usual energy.

Merlin just ignored him. "This is a good example of Selene's humanity."

"H-how?" Elias asked, voice faint.

"Because it means that killing, even if it's done to someone wicked, still affects her in the worst way." Philyra said softly, "She's killed more than anyone else on this ship, and she only does it when she has no other choice. It's never someone who doesn't deserve it, either. But whenever she kills, she falls into this 'state', as we call it, where she's so consumed with guilt and regret that she becomes unresponsive and withdrawn."

"It's scary, seeing her like this." Katalina sat next to Elias, wrapping her arms around herself, "And I know she'll be okay again eventually, but she'll always carry death's mark. She'll always see the blood on her hands, even when no one else can."

Merlin put down his food, "And that's why she's the best captain anyone could ask for. She's so human and reluctant to take a life—heck, she hates hurting people! That's why I follow her. That's why I love her like family. Because everyone she cares about is her family. She'll never turn on us, she'll never become cruel, or hurtful. She may act like a madwoman sometimes, but that's what makes her so much fun. She's what pirates should be. Freedom fighters, merciful, willing to help those who need it. Not someone who steals and rapes and kills for the fun of it." He stood up, "I'm going to go make sure she eats something." He walked off, heading towards the ship's kitchen.

"That's why we're with her, Elias," Katalina said, her voice as soft and quiet as Philyra's. "That's why we're still with her."


	5. Part 1, Chapter 4

Chapter 4: A Midsummer's Night Festival

Selene didn't leave her quarters much over the next couple days. When they neared King's Cove was the first time Elias had gotten more than a glimpse of her since the fight.

She looked awful. She hadn't bothered to even comb her hair, so it was a wild mess, even being so short. Her eyes had dark circles around them, and were bloodshot, not like she'd been crying, but like she'd not slept in days.

The rest of the crew, while their mood had lightened, still acted as if a shroud covered the ship, dampening any of the lively spirit they had before the attack.

She leaned against the railings as stared at the port they were nearing. Elias watched as Merlin walked up to her.

"Once we get there," he said, "you're going to go take a hot bath, and then a nap. By that time, it'll be nap time for some of the littles, so they'll be happy Aunt Lena is back and able to snuggle. Sound good?"

Selene nodded, not saying a word. She hadn't said a word since she first retreated to her room less than a week ago. Merlin sighed and gave her a one-armed hug before returning to getting the ship ready to dock.

Elias was led, Katalina pulling him along by the hand, to a fairly large house. The rest of the crew surrounded them, except for Selene, and Philyra, who had gone with Selene to a bathhouse. Merlin opened the door and walked right in without even knocking, very comfortable with his surroundings.

Elias tried to take in everything. This place certainly didn't look like a pirate monarch's home. It looked far less fancy than the average noble's home, even. Sure, there were pictures on the walls and nice furniture, but nothing looked priceless or stolen. In fact, he saw a things that screamed "little children were here"—there was a wall in a room they passed entirely covered in scribbles and drawings clearly made by children. He saw a few toys hiding in corners, and a baby blanket on a chair. He didn't see any children, though.

Merlin entered a room and Elias saw the first people who had actually been in the house. A bunch of men were gathered around a large table that had a huge map on it. They were all conversing in a language Elias wasn't familiar with. Elias did a quick headcount. Eight men. Six clearly brothers, and he guessed they were Merlin's, since they definitely looked like they could be related to him. The other two looked nothing like the rest, or each other.

Merlin cleared his throat and the men all paused, looking up. Then most of them broke into grins.

"Well look who's back. Hopefully not with his tail between his legs?" One of them laughed. Many of them came over and either hugged Merlin or smacked him on the back.

"Who's that lad? And the lass, too. Haven't seen them before, though I must say _he_ looks a bit familiar." Another asked.

Merlin beckoned to Elias and Katalina, "This is Katalina. She's the healer of the _Elementress_. Newest member of the crew, picked her up not long after our last visit. And this is Elias. We pulled him from the ocean abouttwo weeks ago. We're taking him home, eventually."

"Elias? Is he related to…" one began. But he was cut off when a man who radiated a calm authority stepped forward.

"No matter who he is. If he's here, it means Selene's trusting him. And we all trust Selene, now don't we." He crouched in front of him and Katalina. "Nice to meet you two. I'm Johnathan. May I be the first to say, welcome to King's Cove."

Katalina's hand tightened around Elias', and he realized she was nervous. He squeezed back. So was he. This was the _Pirate King_ that was before them.

"Th-thank you. It's nice to meet you as well." Elias did his best to reply without sounding completely panicked, as he was on the inside.

The man smiled, standing up. "Speaking of the silly Silver Flame, where is Selene? She'd normally be here long before her crew, having run to say hello."

"She went to the bathhouse. She's had a rough couple of days." Serge said.

The Pirate King raised a brow, "How so?"

"Garrick made his third attack a handful of days ago." Luca said. All of the men who had originally been in the room tensed.

"Oh no." said the man who wasn't related to Merlin. He had dirty blond hair a bit darker than Elias' and vibrant green eyes, even more vivid than Luca's. "The poor poppet," he said, sighing, "She's a downright mess, isn't she?" The man's accent made him realize that this man was from Angloland, which was an island country not to far north of Gedonelune.

" _Mi pobre cereza_ …" the other man sighed. This one had curly brown hair, tanned olive skin, and dark green eyes. His accent said he was a man from Espana, a country south of Gedonelune. "She hates having to kill."

"She'll be fine." one of Merlin's bothers said. He was a man that didn't seem entirely there, and had an air of distance about him. "She's got a plan for something and it'll cheer her up. It might also help that there's a festival tonight."

Merlin smiled, "Inan's right. She does have a plan. She hasn't told any of us what it is, either. And I can't believe I forgot about the Midsummer's festival!"

Luca looked over at Elias and Katalina, "There's always a festival for Midsummer in King's Cove. It starts at dusk and ends at dawn. It involves lots of dancing, food, drink, and fun. The crew of the _Elementress_ hasn't been able to go to it the past two years, so the timing for our visit works quite nicely."

"We'll do our upmost to cheer our little sister up!" the Pirate King declared. "Won't we, men?"

" _Aye!_ "

Selene came back from the bathhouse in a clean shirt and breeches, feeling better than she had in days. Philyra walked along beside her in silence as they walked towards the main house, where Jonny and his family lived, and where Selene and most of her crew stayed when they visited. They weren't at King's Cove enough to buy a house. Yukiya, however, stayed with his family when he was here (as did Philyra, most times, as Mrs. Reizen loved the girl), and Merlin tended to stay at his brother Eric's house, which was a few houses down from Jonny's.

People recognized her and she heard a constant stream of greetings and welcomes, to which she replied with a small smile. Her spirits were lighter than they had been since…the duel, and they were getting lighter all the time. She realized as she saw people setting up booths and decorating everywhere that it was Midsummer's Eve. The festival was tonight, and that made her smile grow. She hadn't been to one in a long time, and she was now looking forward to it. They had enough time to participate. The ball in Gedonelune wasn't for about two weeks yet, and it only took a week and a half by average ship (and just under a week if the _Elementress_ was by herself and going at full speed, which wouldn't be the case, but still). They had a little time to celebrate and relax.

And she knew she needed it.

Elias watched as Katalina was led off by a few woman—one of whom was Yukiya's mother, who cheerfully introduced herself. The somewhat heavy woman was the exact opposite of Yukiya personality-wise, being loud and very talkative.

Elias stood awkwardly, feeling really out-of-place among the conversing men. He knew most of their names now, by listening in as he stood unnoticed in a corner. Luca was talking with a man named Wade. Yukiya stood conversing quietly with Inan. Serge chatted with two men, named Matthias and Matthew—what mother would name two sons such similar names? Merlin was talking to the Pirate King, as well as a very large man named Eric.

Well, Elias was almost unnoticed. Until the Espanan man popped into his vision.

" _Hola, mi amigo_. I'm Antonio." The man, Antonio, stuck out his hand, a stupidly cheerfully smile on his face. For some odd reason, Elias noticed as he shook the man's hand that there was a tomato embroidered onto the front of his shirt, on the pocket. A tomato with a turtle—of all things—on top of it.

"Elias." He replied. He'd be warned before they docked that it'd be best if he didn't tell anyone his surname. It was bad enough he looked like his brother, according to Merlin, but he didn't need to go around advertising it. There would be plenty who'd kill him on the spot, despite the strict killing ban in King's Cove.

"So you've joined _mi cereza_ 's crew, then?" Antonio asked.

"Of course he didn't, you bloody fool!" The Anglish man came up behind Antonio. "Since you probably weren't listenin' earlier, they pulled the lad out a' the ocean and are takin' him home." He shoved the espanan man out of the way. "'Ello. I'm Arthur Kirkland. Feel free to ignore that tosser,"—he jerked his thumb in Antonio's direction—"or he might lower your intelligence."

"Said the _gruñón_." Antonio replied cheerfully. The two men proceeded to bicker. Elias wasn't sure what to do—should he try and stop them, or just carefully slip away?

"Oi! If you're going to duel again, take it outside! Cynthia'll kill me if you get blood on something!" The Pirate King scolded, coming over and grabbing them both by the shoulders and throwing them out of the room. He returned, coming over to Elias, "Sorry about that. Those two are constantly at each other's throats. They've got a rivalry something like Selene's and your brothers, only a little more annoying to the rest of us." He smiled, "Why don't we have Merlin show you to the room you'll be staying in? You should probably try and take a nap before tonight." He beckoned to Merlin, who excused himself and came over.

"Com'mon Elias. Let's get you settled in. You look like you need the sleep."

"You bloody tosser! I'll get you this time!"

"Come at me, _idiota_!"

Selene paused, then put a fist to her mouth, trying not to outright laugh. Philyra sighed, knowing too well who was ahead.

Selene handed her things to Philyra and hurried ahead to find two men, one Anglish, the other Espanan. They were coming at each other, swords pulled and swinging. Selene cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted, "I get back and the first thing I find is you two going at it again?"

The two men paused, swords locked. They turned their heads and saw her, quickly backing away from each other and sheathing their swords. Antonio came running and pulled Selene into a hug, swinging her around, " _Mi cereza_! You're here!"

"Yes, Toni, we can all see that. I'm glad to see you, too, but please, put me down." Selene laughed. The man stopped spinning and released her, grinning as much as was humanly possible. Maybe even more so than was possible for the average human. You could never tell with Antonio.

"'Ello, love. How've you been?" Arthur, a little more reserved than his rival, came up.

Selene wasn't having any of it. She gave him a quick hug. "I've been better, Artie, but I've been a whole heck of a lot worse. Being home is definitely helping."

He ruffled her hair, "That's good to hear. Your brothers are inside waiting for you."

"I'll take Philyra! Mrs. Reizen said to send her over when she came. They're dressin' up Katalina and you for tonight." Antonio said cheerfully, gesturing for Philyra to follow him.

"I swear. And people say I'm hopelessly positive." Selene snickered, "I'm nothing compared to Toni!"

"With him it's unnatural, though." Arthur snorted, "He's just odd, and not in a good way."

"Well, I might need cooperation from both of you in the near future, so I hope you'll be willing to help me." Selene said, a mischievous look in her eyes, "I've got a big plan, one that will be a good deal of fun."

"Sounds interesting, love." Arthur laughed, already excited for what was to come. He recognized that glint in Selene's eyes.

Elias had fallen asleep more quickly than he had expected to. The bed in the room he was given to use was large and comfortable. He found he far preferred a landlocked bed than one that rocked with the waves. The stillness was soothing.

By the time he woke it was already nearing dusk. He needed that sleep, apparently.

He rubbed his eyes as he climbed out of the bed, making it up, out sheer habit. While at home, maids made his bed. But at school he didn't have maids, and therefore, did it himself.

He washed his face with the water in a washbasin in the room, and was drying it when someone knocked on the door. It opened and Merlin poked his head in.

"Oh, good. You're up." he said, "We found some clothes that will fit you a bit better than Yukiya's. My family is necessarily large, and we've got so many odds and ends of all sorts that no one knows who they belong to—so we just take what we need as we need it." He opened the door more fully, revealing a pile of clothes in one arm. "Find something to change to and we'll get you something to eat before heading to the festival. Most of what's sold there isn't really meal food, but snacks and sweets." He set the clothes on the bed.

"Thank you." Elias said.

"No problem. Just don't take forever." Just then, there was a large crashing sound downstairs, causing Elias to jump. Merlin sighed. "Don't worry. There's nothing too breakable in the house, at least things that aren't locked away out of reach. Too many kids in and out for that to happen. My six nephews, plus a few other kids, are here, waiting to leave for the festival. I think they're playing _Pirates and Navy_ with Selene."

Elias knew that game. It was often played back at school by the other boys. He never found much interest in roughhousing, though, so he never joined in. But he could easily picture Selene playing it with a bunch of kids. What was odd was that it didn't matter who the kids were—street kids, noble sons, the children of pirates—they all played the same games. It was interesting to think about. Children in and of themselves weren't all that different, and didn't care who they played with. It was their parents who put the ideas in their minds that they shouldn't play with certain other children. Something about that seemed sort of wrong to him.

Merlin left and Elias went through the pile, putting together an outfit fairly quick. He changed and went over to the little vanity. His hair was a tangled mess. He'd lost any and all caring about his appearance since he woke up on Selene's ship, but he felt that he should at least make an effort to look half-decent—it was a festival, after all.

After running his hands through his hair a couple times, he went out of the room and down a set of stairs. At the bottom, he found lots of people. Adults were mostly gathered in the room to the right, but there were kids running around everywhere else.

"The pirates are overtaking me! Request for backup! Request for backup!" cried a voice. Was that...Selene? Huh. Elias would've thought she'd be the pirate, seeing as she's literally a pirate captain. He was nearly knocked over by Selene as she ran past. "Sorry!" she called, hurrying on. The next person did crash into him, knocking them both over. A bunch of kids followed, streaming around them. When they were gone, the boy who'd slammed into him stood up, dusting himself off. He held out a hand.

"Sorry about that, dude. Didn't mean to run into you." He held out his hand for Elias to take. Elias took it and pulled himself up. The boy was about his age, maybe a year older, but was a few inches taller. He had dark blue eyes and messy blond hair, along with a big smile. "I can't see to good without my glasses, and I can't really wear 'em while I'm runnin' around. I'm Alfred. Who are you?"

"Elias." He replied as Alfred shook his hand.

"Nice to meet ya, dude." Alfred said, "But I've got to go before Admiral Selene gets away! Feel free to join, but my brother is in the other room, if you want to go talk to him. He's not a fan of these kinds of things. See ya!" With that, the odd boy ran off in the direction of the noise. He heard Selene shout for backup again and shook his head. Should they play this _outside_?

He went into the room where the rest of the people were, deciding it'd be better to move before he got ran over again. No one paused to look at him, as everyone was immersed in their own conversation. He went and sat on a couch.

"Hello."

Elias jumped and looked over. How in heck did he not see the other boy on the couch? This one looked a lot like Alfred, only purple eyes, and this boy's hair was longer, wavy, and brushing his shoulders, and a little lighter than Alfred's, with this odd single curl that stuck up. This must be Alfred's brother. He was holding this off-white teddy bear.

"Oh, hello. Sorry, I didn't see you there." Elias said apologetically, "Are you the brother Alfred mentioned a second ago?"

The boy sighed, "That's alright. Most people don't. I'm used to it. I'm just glad you _don't_ think I'm Alfred. I'm Matthieu, Alfred's twin. The older one, despite what most people assume." He had a sort of accent, but it was faint enough that Elias was having a hard time placing it. French, maybe? "Most people call me Matt or Mattie, though."

"Hate being compared? I can relate."

He tilted his head, "Do you have a brother, too?"

"Two of them. Both older. I don't really get compared to Percy, the oldest, but I get compared to Klaus all the time. He and I both look really similar to our father, and thus, each other. Only difference is he's perfect at everything, from sports to academics to social skills, and I'm nowhere close. It comes easy to him, not me."

"That sounds awful," Mattie agreed. "Alfred's kind of the same way. He's really smart and learns things really easy. He learns languages in months and can do all sorts of complex math in his head. But he's also really outgoing and everyone likes him, even if he can get really annoying. Most people tend to forget about me. It's funny, you know, that I'm the older brother. I'm just not good with people…"

"Tell me about it!" Elias sighed, "Most people say I act like I'm all stuck up and cold, but I just don't have a clue how to act around most people. Seriously, why is so difficult?"

"I know, right?"

Elias and Mattie continued to talk, and Elias found that he really liked this boy. He was soft spoken, but he was really nice. They both liked reading over running around outside, they both lived in the shadows of their brothers, and they found plenty of other topics other than those. Elias felt so much more comfortable talking to this boy than any of the children of his parents' friends or his schoolmates..

But their conversation was interrupted by a loud cry.

"Ack! I'm dead!" Followed by a big thump and a lots of little thumps.

"Okay, kids, let's get off of Aunt Lena before she _really_ ends up dead." A laughing woman, who'd been talking to the Pirate King, went over to the doorway and left, assumably to pull them off of Selene.

Elias snickered, "Was she really the Navy? You'd think she'd be the Pirate, seeing as she's the Silver Flame, a pirate legend and one of the only infamous female captains, as well as the unchallenged pirate princess, among other things."

"You'd think," Mattie laughed. "But she finds fun in mimicking your brother. A dramatised version, of course." Mattie knew Klaus was the Admiral who was Selene's big rival, and he didn't really care. Same way the Elias didn't think it was weird that Mattie carried around the teddy bear—a polar bear named Kumajiro—that his mother made him before she passed.

Honestly, Elias admired how attached to it. He didn't have any physical items he could be that fond of.

Elias shook his head, "She's something else, I swear."

"Yup." Mattie agreed.

Selene walked into the room, hair a mess and clothes rumpled. But she was smiling and laughing. She looked far happier than she had even earlier that day. She came over to Elias and Mattie. "Hey, Eli, Mattie."

Mattie stood up and gave her a hug. "Hi, Selene."

She wrapped her arms around him, "How are you and Kuma' doing? I didn't get to talk to you earlier before all the littles, plus Al, dragged me into the game. I saw Arthur earlier, but I haven't seen Francis yet. How's he?"

Elias had learned that Mattie and Alfred were being raised by their older brothers, Arthur and Francis. Those two were, in actuality, step brothers, while the twins were their younger half-brothers. Francis' father had married Arthur's mother, but both had been killed in an earthquake about four years ago. So the twins had been taken to King's cove were raised by their older brothers, Francis—who lived in King's Cove and cared for them most of the time—and Arthur, who sailed around being a pirate and plundering the Navy, earning them money. Arthur was apparently one of the good pirates, who had morals, despite his odd rivalry with the Espanan pirate Antonio.

"He's doing good. You should be able to see him sometime tonight. He's helping Jeanne with the stall her shop is running." Mattie told her.

"When's the wedding, by the way? I'll have to make sure to be here for it."

"I don't remember. Ask them."

"Ah, okay." She looked over at Eli, letting Mattie go. "Have you seen Katalina yet?"

"No…"

She smirked. "Well, I can't wait until you do. She'll be here soon. Speaking of soon," She looked around, "I really should go get changed myself. See y'all in a bit." She scampered off, weaving in and out of the crowd of people.

"What was that about?" Elias asked.

"Beats me." Mattie said.

Selene made it back just in time to see Katalina and Philyra entering the house, followed by several woman. The two girls had been put in pretty dresses and had their hair done up so it wouldn't get in the way while dancing. Selene herself had run a brush through her hair to somewhat neaten the short locks, and had changed into a simple dress—in general, she wore breeches and trousers, but she liked wearing a simple shirt for festivals and such. It was fun, while you danced, to have a skirt that swished around. Selene watched as Elias noticed Katalina and had to bite her cheek to keep from outright laughing—Mattie, on the other hand, who was still next to him, couldn't hold back a few giggles. Elias' eyes had widened and his face turned bright red, all the way to his ears. She _totally_ shipped those two. Talk about adorable puppy love!

They entire group—Selene didn't even bother counting how many were in the group leaving Jonny's house—made their way to the main square, where they separated into smaller groups. Mostly families and couples, but Selene saw Elias, Katalina, Mattie, and Alfred go off into their own group. Arthur had given his brothers pocket change, and Selene had given some to Katalina and Elias (despite Elias' protests). She smiled. She was glad they were having fun.

She went straight to the stage that had been set up for the musicians—she'd seen an old friend. "June!" The singer/pirate captain looked over and smiled.

"Selene. It is wonderful to see you again."

Selene grinned, "Always so _formal_ , Siren."

"Always so _informal_ , Silver Flame." She retorted.

Both women laughed.

"So you're singing for the night? Can I count on a couple of my favorite songs to dance to being slipped in?" Selene asked.

"For you, certainly. I heard Garrick used his third chance, so I think you'll need a few of those dances." June replied, "Now, is it true that you've got a plan for your next attack on the Navy?"

Selene's smile shifted to a look of gleeful anticipation, "Oh _do_ I. It's going to my best yet."

June smirked, "Mind if I make an announcement of it?"

"Sure. Go ahead." Selene said, "Are you starting?"

"In a bit. We'll start with opening announcements in a few minutes, but the actual dancing starts in just over an hour."

"Ah. Okay." Selene nodded, "Good luck, June."

"Don't need it." She replied simply.

"Sure, sure." Selene laughed, hopping off the stage, "See you later!"

A sharp whistle sounded through the main square. The people's noise quieted and everyone turned their attention to the stage.

"Hello, people of King's Cove and beyond." June's voice carried easily, "You are welcomed to the Midsummer's festival. We hope everyone here manages to have a wonderful time." She waited while people murmured amongst themselves before quieting. "But before the festival officially starts, there are a few announcements. May we all congratulate Captain Kirkland and his crew for their daring attack, and successful raid, on the beta fleet of the Oriental Navy, and Captain Carriedo and his crew's capture of two mega-cargo ships carrying not cargo, as the official governments may claim, but humans who were taken from their home and who are now recovering in Queen's Waif, before being prepared to be taken back to their homes."

A thunderous mix of clapping and stomping filled the main square of King's Cove and beyond. When it quieted again, June continued. "And, we must welcome back a very special member of our King's family, the legendary female captain who is one of the greatest sources of the Navy's misery. One who has not been able to come home for almost two years due to her adventures. Everyone, welcome home the Pirate Princess...Selene Celeste Fonix!"

Selene skipped up to the stage as the roar of the crowd exceeded that of its previous applause, grinning widely. When the noise quelled, Selene spoke. "It's wonderful to be home, but I must say it is not for long. You see, I've got another one of my absolutely _dastardly_ plans. It should not take more than a few weeks before I am home again, thankfully. But this will be one of my greatest feats yet, and the Navy won't stand a chance. I'll be able to one-up a certain Admiral in such a manner he'll never manage to catch up!" She shook two fists in the air, a devilishly mischievous smirk upon her lips. The crowd laughed and made enough noise to shake the stand.

The people of King's Cove, and it's visitors, danced away the night until sunrise, drinking and eating and making merry. Elias and Katalina had stuck by each other the entire time, as both were, despite the fun they were having, overwhelmed by the crowds. Selene danced with so many people—young, old, male, female, practically everyone. A couple hours in, a local woman replaced Captain June, and while her music wasn't at the same level, it was more than enough for the half-drunk crowd. When the sun finally came over the horizon, most people stumbled back to their homes, or to an inn, and fell into bed to sleep the morning away.

But not all went to sleep.

Selene and a few of her brothers, including Jonny, as well as Arthur and Antonio, gathered about the map of the world.

"You see, the way this is going to work we'll need as few ships as possible, speed prioritized over power. It needs to be a trademark Silver Flame attack." Selene said, "I'll need to split my crew up a bit, meaning I'll need one or two other men on my ship. First, there will be a couple side missions. I'm sending Luca with the Goldstein lad on you ship, Arthur, because you're more familiar with the waters over in this part." She pointed to Gedonelune, to the town of Aprea. "That's where the Goldstein city house is. You're not to attack. This is merely for Luca to be able to slip ashore with Elias, and return him home. He is an innocent, even if the men in his family aren't. I'm sending Luca specifically because I heard a certain warrioress will be stationed with the family, which is currently in morning." A few chuckles could be heard—everyone knew about Luca's strange love of Warrioress Marelda Krammer.

"Now," Selene continued, "I'm leaving this up to Inan and company. I need you to spread rumors that there is to be a larger attack on Espana. You'll be taking Jonny, Matthew, Antonio, and their men to put this rumor into action. But not actually attack. This is to be a confusion tactic, diverting attention from Gedonlune, or more specifically, the West Base. You see, they're going to soon be having a ball, one they have every five years. It's a big, grand affair, lots of pomp and circumstance. The rest of my crew, as well as those of Eric's crew that he feels can pull it off, are going to get aaaaaall dressed up." Selene grinned, "They'll be so dazzled by our light they won't realize we've taken their shiny things. I've also got a special job for myself."

Merlin raised a brow, "You're going to somehow, as you put it last night, 'one-up' Admiral Goldstein?"

"You betcha, brother of mine," Selene winked. "He'll never see it coming, and he'll never truly recover. This will be something that drives him nuts the rest of his days."

The brothers all felt goosebumps as Selene giggled in a slightly disturbing manner. They almost felt bad for Klaus Goldstein. Almost.


	6. Part 1, Chapter 5

Chapter 5: The Quincentennial Ball

"Thanks." a voice said from behind her.

Selene, who had been getting ready a variety of things into a pack, turned to see Elias, with a red face and shy expression.

"No need to thank me, sweetie."

"Yes. There is." Elias cleared his throat. "You first saved me from the ocean, pulling me from it. Then, you didn't kill me because of my family, and didn't let anyone else do so. Now, you've arranged for me to go home. And for all that, though it's nowhere near enough, I thank you."

Selene smiled softly before going over and giving the lad a hug. "You're a good kid, Elias. You'll go far. I just know it. You're smart, and you've got something a lot of people don't have. Compassion. And passion for what you love. I've been honored to meet the little brother of my greatest entertainment. It's been a pleasure knowing you." She heard a quiet sob a felt a slight dampness on her shoulder as Elias hugged her back.

"It's odd, but I'm going to miss you. You, and Philyra and Yukiya and Serge, even Luca. And...Katalina, I'll miss her, too." He sniffled, "I've actually made friends, since the shipwreck. For the first time in my life I have actual friends. Not people who interact with me because their parents told them to, or because of my family. But real friends. I miss my family, yes, I do, but now I'm going to miss you guys." His voice was quiet but Selene heard every word.

She pulled back slightly, her hands firmly on his shoulders. "I'll tell you what. Blayze is going to get the exercise he needs. We'll keep in contact with you, all of us, through letters. I can definitely send him around once a month to drop off our letter and pick yours up. Of course, only if you'd like that to happen."

He looked at her, wide-eyed, "R-really?"

"Really."

He smiled and gave her a hug, "Thank you."

"You're very welcome lad. Now, go on," Selene let him go and shooed him to the door. "Make sure to remind Luca not to stay and flirt to long with his obsession."

Elias laughed as he went to go find the obnoxious man who was to be his escort back home.

Selene stood in front of a set of large doors, behind which there was music that could be heard. She was wearing a fancier get-up than she ever had in her life. The dress was a beautiful silvery thing, with a flowy, shimmery skirt, little star embroidery patterns along all the hems and the neckline. She was just glad she had managed to convince Francis, who had made the dress (the man had quite the talent of fashion), to let her wear her normal shoes instead of the delicate slippers. The dress was long enough to hide them, and the skirt was loose enough to conceal that fact.

There were also a few knives concealed on her person, so she wasn't totally unarmed.

Her face, on top of well-done makeup, donned a silvery mask. It was an obvious touch, she knew, to have the little faintly engraved patterns look like flames, but she figured that no one would think that the Silver Flame herself was there. Not when this masquarade ball was for noble and military personnel only.

She took a deep breath (or as deep as she could with the corset) and exhaled before pushing open the door.

Elias was riding upon Luca's back piggy-back style, and clinging for dear life as Luca kept jumping from rooftop to rooftop. Luca would have normally teased the younger boy for being such a scaredy-cat, but he was too elated by his anticipation at seeing his bella again.

Finally, they landed on a roof Elias recognized from his many nights of climbing out the bedroom window to look at the stars, or read while basking in the sun. Luca set the nobleboy down, and Elias hurried as fast as he dared to his window. Inside was dark, empty. But the light from the next room, his parents' room, glowed from the curtain. He tested to see if his window was locked, and, thankfully, it wasn't. So he pulled it up slowly to avoid making as much noise as he could. Slipping inside, he didn't even think about shutting, much less locking, the window behind him in his haste to see his parents, which made it all the easier for a green-haired man to slink in after him.

It was only when he reached his door did he see movement out of the corner of his eye. Eh whirled around and whisper-hissed. "Luca! You've delivered me, so go! Before you're caught or something!"

Luca grinned, "I've got business here, but not with you or your family, kid."

The door creaked open and they both faced it. There stood the silhouette of a tall woman, "I should have known."

Not many people noticed the silver-clad woman slip into the ballroom, where the party was already full swing. Admiral Klaus Goldstein, however, did. The woman was beautiful, though from her entrance, clearly was a bit shy. He himself had turned down offers to dance and hold a conversation. Normally, this would be far from socially acceptable, but everyone knew of the recent tragedy the Goldstein family had experienced, and gave some leeway for the mourning man.

He realized he had probably consumed one too many glasses of wine, but was beyond caring. Which is probably why the appearance of this mystery woman in the silver dress fascinated him so. He made his way over to where she stood, at the edge of the party. She looked up and saw him coming towards her, twisting her hands nervously. Klaus put on a confident smile. He could push aside his sadness for awhile, with the help of wine and, if he was lucky, a few kisses from a beautiful woman.

Selene noticed how her target had practically made a beeline for her within moments of her entrance and had to withhold a smirk. This was too easy, particularly as how the admiral, from his red cheeks, had a little bit much of the wine.

When he made it over to her, she put on a shy persona, fluttering her pretty little fan.

"Hello, silver lady. You've arrived a bit later than is fashionable." Klaus leaned against the wall, and Selene kept her eyes on the floor, both to act shy and to conceal her eyes, which Klaus would recognise despite her being dolled up.

"My brother insisted I go, but there are far too many people here, so I aimed to be unnoticed. I seem to have failed." Selene used a soft, ladylike voice quite different from her normal, powerful one.

"Very few things escape me, my lady. How could I miss such a stunning beauty in silver?" The man wondered, inching closer to her.

Selene would admit, only to herself, that the deepening of her rival's voice was quite attractive. But she had to stay focused on her mission. So she giggled and hid her lips with her fan.

"You say this setting has to many people, does it?"

"Yes, sir. Far too many. It makes me dizzy, almost." She replied.

"Would you like me to lead you someplace quieter, where we can talk a little easier, perhaps?" the admiral asked, a single brow raised in an almost seductive manner.

She let loose another little giggle, and nodded.

Elias spun around to see the warrioress, Marelda Krammer, standing in the doorway, hands on her hips. She only seemed to be seeing Luca, at least at first, because she looked down a moment later and gasped, "Elias? Is that you?"

"Y-yes. Are my p-parents next door?" He stumbled over his words so awkwardly, probably due to the unusually happy aura of the man behind him clashing with the surprised annoyance of the woman in front of him.

Marelda nodded, not saying another word as she let Elias dart past her. He almost slipped and fell from the sudden turn that left him standing in front of his parent's bedroom door. He took a deep breath and opened it.

"Is something wrong, Marelda?" said his father's voice. "We heard something in Elias'..." His father stopped short when he turned to look at the door. The eyes of Fleet Admiral Walter Goldstein widened as he stood up abruptly.

Elias heard his mother gasp as she noticed him. His father took slow steps over to him, and placed his large, calloused hand on his son's cheek.

"You're...real. You're...you're alive." Elias had never heard a man's voice so broken, and had never seen tears slip out of his father's eyes as he did now.

"Y-yes, father. I'm alive." Elias said quietly, looking down.

Only to be pulled into his father's arms and hugged tightly. "Oh, my boy, my son!" His father cried.

Elias felt tears start slipping down his own face as he hugged his father back.

"What the bloody _heck_ are you doing here, Orlem?" Marelda hissed.

Luca gasped, quiet but dramatic, "You wound me with your harsh tone, bella! I was merely delivering a young, lost boy back home." He chuckled, inching towards her. "And coming for a little visit with my favorite warrior. That, too." He smirked as Marelda made an indignant sound.

"I'll let you go this time, priate, for bringing the kid home. Next time I won't be so nice." She spat, only to have the lips of the aforementioned pirate brush hers before pulling back.

"Wouldn't have it any other way, bella." Luca whispered as he slipped out the window, leaving a stunned woman warrior in his wake.

"You've come quite a way, my lady, if you live in Terra. I've never been there myself, but I've heard it's interesting." Klaus said, eyeing the Lady Diana.

"Oh, it's nothing special. I much prefer Gedonelune, it's so much prettier. Both the nature and the men." The shy lady seemed to have vanished, replaced with a flirtatious vixen of a lady the moment they left the crowds. From what she had told him, she apparently was much more open when alone than in a crowded place.

"The men, hmm? Any of them in particular?" They were currently on a balcony, away from the ball, where there was a nice view of the town.

"I've found a certain admiral quite to my liking," she winked at him, fluttering her fan.

He moved closer to her, placing his hands on the railing, one on either side of her. "I believe that admiral thinks the same about you, my lady." He leaned forward, pressing his lips against hers, eliciting a pleased hum from her throat.

Selene began running her hands slowly up Klaus' chest, until the tips of her right hand left hand brushed the complex badge he wore. Her prize. She moved one hand up to his hair as one of his moved to the small of her back, her right hand slowly and carefully working off the pinned on badge. It was hard not to be distracted by the kisses of the man who held her, but in the fog one part of her brain remained focused, and she knew if she didn't hurry she'd totally forget about the mission.

The badge finally came free and it carefully slipped into the special strap attached to her arm, placed just below the wrist, hidden by the loose sleeves of the dress, which were tight to the elbow before flaring out.

She pulled back slightly, gasping, only to find herself almost lost in darkened amethyst eyes. He leaned forward again but she turned her head, and Klaus kissed her cheek instead of his original mark. When she looked back she saw the confusion in his eyes as the large clock in the center of town struck one. Time to go.

"That was lovely, really." She murmured, "But if I'm not home by two, my brother will be worried."

Klaus nodded in understanding, as young women were generally put to a curfew. "Well, then I must thank you for the lovely evening, and insist you let me escort me to your carriage." He let go of her only to grab her hand, bringing the knuckles of her left hand to his lips.

 _Ever the gentlemen to a lady_ , Selene thought, inwardly snickering, _but never to a Pirate Princess._

"I'm afraid that won't be necessary." She pulled her hand from his with another giggle (which, honestly, she vowed not to do again after this night, because it was an annoying sound even to her own ears). She backed away as an arrow flew and struck the wall above their heads, and the thin, but strong, rope attached to it pulled taunt. Klaus tried to pull her inside, away from this sudden new danger, but she evaded him and pulled a special stick from a hidden pocket in her gown even as she pulled off the blond wig to reveal her short, oddly colored hair.

Klaus realized, despite the wine, that he'd been duped the moment he saw the short hair. Suddenly, he could see all the similarities on the face of Lady Diana, and realized that it was in fact his greatest enemy.

"I think I've won another point, don't you, Klausy?" She laughed, hopping on the balcony. Klaus lunged to grab her but was a moment too late, for the elusive Silver Flame had pushed herself off and glided to the next rooftop. He would've followed, but cursed, because the second she touched the roof, the line went slack as a man hidden in the shadow's cut it.

"See you soon, sweetheart!" Klaus growled in frustration as Selene Celeste Fonix, Pirate Princess, laughed as she hurried into the darkness.

"She's going to pay for this!"

The next morning he found that several men and a few women had infiltrated the ball, stealing an enormous amount of jewelry and expensive small objects.

And worst of all, his badge was gone. And he knew it was in the hands of a woman who he knew would spend a long time driving him mad.

"She won this time." He muttered angrily as he put another tally in his notebook. "But next time, I'm going to win, once and for all. This humiliation will _not_ stand."

 _Oh, but it will, won't it Klausy?_

He mentally shouted at the feminine voice in his head, one that sounded too much like a certain pirate, to shut up.


End file.
